human- environment interaction north africa and the middle east
TRANSCRIPT
Human-Environment InteractionNorth Africa and the Middle East
The Aswan High DamA dam on the Nile River in Egypt Completed in 1970 Increased Egypt’s farmable land by
50% (2-3 harvests per year)Protected farmable land from
droughts and floodsLake Nasser is the artificial lake
created behind the dam
Problems with the Dam
During construction, many people had to be relocated, including 1000s of Nubians, whose who way of life was permanently changed
Ancient sites either had to be moved or could not be saved – temples at Abu Simbel had to be moved; small ancient treasures now lie at the bottom of Lake Nasser
Problems with the Dam
Decreased the fertility of the soil The Nile no longer deposits its rich silt
(sediment) on the farmland, so farmers have to purchase expensive artificial fertilizer
Year round irrigation has resulted in a water table in Egypt
Floodwaters used to flush out the salt, but now expensive field drains have to be installed
Problems with the Dam
Rates of malaria and other diseases have increased due to greater numbers of mosquitos
Egyptians lose millions of gallons of fresh water due to evaporation because Lake Nasser holds the floodwaters
Water in the Middle EastAncient practices work well with
small fields but not large fieldsDams and irrigations systems
needed for large fieldsSeveral countries in the region use drip
irrigation – practice of using small pipes that slowly drip water just above ground to conserve water used for crops
Negev Desert in Israel
DesalinizationDesalinization is the removal of salt
from ocean water This is done at technically sophisticated
water treatment plants Water may be too salty to use for
irrigation so it is used in sewage systems
Very expensive and cannot provide adequate quantities of water to meet all the needs of people in the Middle East
Fossil WaterWater pumped from underground
aquifers is called fossil water because it has been in the aquifer for a long time
Fossil water has little chance of being replaced because the region has too little rainfall
It is estimated that at the current rate water is being pumped, only about 25 to 30 years of water usage remain
Impact of Oil on the LandPetroleum that has not been processed
is called crude oilCrude oil pumped from the ground must
be moved to a refineryThe job of a refinery is to convert the
crude oil into useful products Pipelines transport the crude oil either to
refineries or to ports where the oil is picked up by tankers and moved to other places for processing
Risks of Transporting Oil
Moving oil from one location to another always involves the risk of oil spills
The largest oil spill ever recorded occurred on January 1991 during the Persian Gulf War
A series of tankers and oil storage terminals in Kuwait and on islands off its coast were blown up
More than 24 million gallons of crude oil were spilled into the water and on land